Archived News: 2016: October

October 8, 2016

Chattanooga Head Race

On Saturday, October 9, Georgia Tech Crew raced in Chattanooga, TN at the Chattanooga Head Race. The race was held on the Tennessee River and was run head race style. Conditions were windy and choppy, and the course was shortened to approximately 2500m.

Racing began at 9AM with the Women’s College 8+. Tech’s “A” boat placed third overall, while the “C” entry and lightweights placed eleventh and thirteenth respectively. The varsity women continued their day with a second place finish for Thomas/Heyerdahl in the women’s collegiate pair event and a fourth place finish for Stacks/Bonin. Next up was the Women’s Collegiate Lightweight 4+, where Tech took first and third place. The varsity women wrapped up their day with the Collegiate 4+ event, where Tech’s “A” entry earned the silver medal. Tech’s “B”, “C”, and “D” entries took sixteenth, twelfth, and fourteen.

The varsity men started their morning with the Collegiate 4+, which saw them win first and second place. The freshmen varsity men raced with the novice men to win the men’s Collegiate Novice 4+ event. They continued their success into the Collegiate Lightweight 4+ event, where they swept first, second, and third place overall. Tech’s varsity men and women combined just before the lunch break to take second place in the Mixed Eight. The Men’s Collegiate Pairs event was won by Preihs/Gloyd, with a fourth place finish for Brady/Liu. The varsity men concluded the regatta with the Men’s Collegiate 8+ event, where Tech’s “A” entry won gold, with the “B” and “C” entries taking second and seventh.

In their first racing action, the novice men took third place in the Men’s Collegiate True Novice 4+ race. They continued their success with a bronze medal finish in the Men’s Collegiate Second Novice 8+, with fifth and seventh place finishes for the “B” and “C” entries. In the Collegiate Novice 8+ race, the novice men placed fifth, eighth, and thirteenth.

The novice women started off with the Women’s Second Novice 8+ event, where Tech placed second. They continued the day with the Collegiate Novice 4+ where the Tech boat placed eighth. Later, Tech’s True Collegiate Novice 4+ won gold. The novice women finished the day with a sixth and tenth place finish in the Collegiate Novice 8+ race.

Tech was awarded the Collegiate Points Trophy with 754 points over rivals Clemson and the University of Alabama (NCAA).

Georgia Tech Crew will send select varsity members to Boston, MA for the Head of the Charles on October 22-23. The entire team will return to action on November 5 in Chattanooga, TN for the Head of the Hooch.

October 23, 2016

Head of the Charles

On Sunday, October 23, 2016, select varsity boats raced at the famous Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA. The race is held on the Charles River, starting at the Boston University boathouse and ending shy of the Northeastern University boathouse. The 4.8km/3mi race passes through six famous bridges such as Eliot, Anderson, and Weeks and along historic boathouses such as Harvard University and Cambridge Boat Club. Conditions for the races were chilly, with temperatures in the 40’s, winds of 20-30mph and gusts of up to 40mph.

Tech’s first racing action was on Sunday afternoon with the Men’s Collegiate Four. Despite a bright start for the crew, a collision with Fordham through Eliot Bridge dropped Tech down to twenty-fourth place in a field of forty five boats, narrowly missing a guaranteed slot in next year’s regatta. The Women’s Collegiate Four, plagued by injuries, rallied to finish in thirty-second place in an unfamiliar line-up.

The lightweights were up next for Tech, beginning with the Lightweight Men’s Four. In a field that included NYAC, Yale, and Colombia, Tech managed a fourteenth place finish. The Lightweight Women’s Eight event included top crews such as Harvard, BU, and MIT. Tech managed a ninth place finish.

Finishing up the historic regatta was the Collegiate Eights events. The varsity men guaranteed their 2017 Head of the Charles entry with a fifteenth place finish in a field of thirty seven boats. After a collision with Vermont, the varsity women just missed out on a guaranteed entry of their own, with a twentieth place finish in a field of twenty eight boats.

The full team will return to action on November 5th in Chattanooga, TN for the largest regatta in the South, the Head of the Hooch. Tech will finish the fall head racing season in Augusta, GA at the Head of the South on November 12th.